Follow CGSP on Social Media

Listen to the CGSP Podcast

Author: Cobus van Staden

Ghana Commissions First Roads Built Under Controversial Bauxite Deal

Ghana’s Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia this week commissioned the first road infrastructure built under a controversial $2 billion resource-for-infrastructure deal with the Chinese conglomerate Sinohydro.  Bawumia was eager to claim the inauguration of 441 km of roads in the ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Ghana Commissions First Roads Built Under Controversial Bauxite Deal

Ghana’s Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia this week commissioned the first road infrastructure built under a controversial $2 billion resource-for-infrastructure deal with the Chinese conglomerate Sinohydro. 

Bawumia was eager to claim the inauguration of 441 km of roads in the Cape Coast region as a win for his government, which has faced major economic headwinds over the last few months. It also papered over the fact that the project faced criticism for delayed implementation following the signing ...

Chinese Gold Miner in Zimbabwe Faces Labor Abuse Allegations — Again

A Chinese mining company in Zimbabwe is under fire for labor abuses. Workers at Odzi Resources Zimbabwe’s gold mine in the Mutare district accuse managers of violence and say operations often breach local laws. 

As China Nitpicks Terms, Asia’s Debt Bomb is Ticking…

As technocrats in Sri Lanka and Laos grapple with renegotiating loans to a variety of creditors, including China, the region's creeping debt distress is slowly tipping into a full-blown humanitarian disaster.  The situation is the most critical in Sri Lanka, where ...

Debt Trap or Naivety Trap? China’s Road to Global South Debt Distress

Is China's part in Global South debt the result of 'debt trap' machinations, or over-confidence on Beijing's part? The prominent China-focused economist Michael Pettis recently unpacked this issue in a Twitter thread:  I've long argued that what others ...

China-Pakistan Talks on Post-Flood Recovery Start Amid U.S.-China Sniping

China’s Foreign Ministry clapped back at U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call to Pakistan “to engage China on some of the important issues of debt relief and restructuring so that Pakistan can more quickly recover from the floods.” ...

68 Global South Countries Give China Human Rights Cover at the UN

In what’s becoming a standard tactic, China used its support across the Global South to counter a proposal from a U.S.-led group of rich democracies for a special debate in the UN Human Rights Council on China’s anti-Uyghur measures in Xinjiang. The measure followed 

Apple’s Use of India to Limit its Exposure to China Is Part of a Broader Trend 

The relocation of a portion of Apple’s iPhone 14 manufacturing from China to India is reportedly going surprisingly smoothly, getting underway weeks ahead of schedule. The move is an example of a wider manufacturing strategy by global brands. Apple ...

U.S. Builds Mineral Coalition to Displace China

The United States hopes to use its rich allies to channel investment to resource-rich countries in order to cut China out of mineral supply chains. The U.S.-led Minerals Security Partnership, which also includes Japan, the EU and others, held a ministerial meeting ...

Getting China Out of the U.S. Battery Metal Supply Chain Easier Said Than Done

The United States's plan to displace China from global mineral supply chains while simultaneously making them more environmentally, socially and governmentally (ESG) sustainable could be a bigger task than U.S government officials would like to admit.  The UK ...

How Powerful is China in Zimbabwe? New Report Counts the Ways

The prominent Zimbabwean environmental NGO, the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), published a new policy brief mapping China's influence in key Zimbabwean economic sectors, including extractives, utilities and power. ZELA has been sharply critical of Chinese ...

China Continues Gulf Diplomacy

China’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deng Li, met with ambassadors from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries on Monday. Envoys from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and other member countries joined the meeting, which reportedly touched on the ongoing crisis in Yemen, among other (unspecified) topics. 
Page 1 of 4512…45